As I was browsing the web today, I found this really great article on Hypable (my new favorite website) that kind of relates to my Potter review that I posted yesterday.  This article deals with the adaptions of the books, and how people should be greatful for how well they turned out.  Give it a read.

In defense of the ‘Harry Potter’ films

"I’ve always felt I’ve had to be an apologist for the Harry Potter films. I’ve always felt that I, as a lover of both movies and Harry Potter, have had to excuse them to many of the fellow Harry Potter diehards I speak with. First, let me explain myself a bit.

I’ve read each book before seeing the movie, so one cannot blame the movies on how I perceive them versus the books. Above all, I do love the books far more than the best movie imaginable. I do not feel I have to explain this last part, so I won’t. Quite simply, they’re the crowning achievement in literature and I will always consider J.K. Rowling nothing short of genius.

Then again, I have to say that filmmakers behind the Harry Potter series aren’t too shabby themselves. First off, let’s take a look at the fantasy genre and source material. Harry Potter has got to be one of the most intricate, fascinatingly detailed and complex worlds ever created. So when seeing other fantasy stories turned to film fail, with a world not nearly as imaginative or complete as Harry Potter, such as with Eragon, Lemony Snicket or The Golden Compass, I believe it puts the films into a little more perspective.

The Harry Potter movies have been brilliantly handled. It has become a bit of a popular thing of late to commend Christopher Columbus for casting the actors, particularly the trio, each of whom have carried the series through a decade of magic on the big screen, but I also believe there is more honor to go around. I truly believe a cut-free book-to-film version of the Harry Potter films would fail mightily. Simply put: these books are too magnificent and perfectly detailed to ever work completely on the medium of film without changes, it is the exposition and extraneous detail that makes the Harry Potter series something special, both of which do not belong in movies such as these.

An example of this is watching the first two movies in the series, something I am currently doing, and seeing how they suffer from trying to be too close to the book – even with cutting quite a bit. The (for want of a better word) blandness and lack of a true thread of pacing makes it suffer as a movie. So what happened when Alfonzo Cuaron joined the franchise? Everything changed and boy was there outcry. Cuaron arrived with a far more artistic (and critically acclaimed) background in film. It was then when he made the very conscious decision that would forever change the series.

Alfonzo Cuaron sacrificed many aspects of the books in order to make a more coherent, sensible and (in my opinion) enjoyable storyline for the films. He cut away all excess, he made the films dark and brooding, only including what mattered, Harry’s story, and allowing him to focus in great detail upon creating a movie, not just a moving, tired representation of books that have no business being put to screen in such a manner.

While, in my opinion Goblet of Fire is by far the weakest film in the series, Mike Newell made the decision to follow in Cuaron’s footsteps, only doing it in a different, less original manner and with an adaptation almost twice as long as Prisoner of Azkaban. The result was a rather muddled mess of story-lines, along with more obvious and insensible changes to the storyline then seen before.

David Yates arrived and has been a stunning force to the series, bringing his unique vision and almost eerie understanding of each and every scene. Getting better and better with each subsequent film, Yates started off with an unbalanced Order of the Phoenix that still showed signs of brilliance in many of the aforementioned categories.

The dark reality of the Harry Potter world has been fully realized in a completely knew way from the early films, from a veering away from Chris Columbus’ whimsical direction, or John Williams lively score to a more foreboding, adult film with a desperately bleak score and cinematography. Yates was sure enough in his understanding to create some truly wondrous scenes that were not in the book, but lived up to its worthiness in my eyes. From the heartbreaking story in Half-Blood Prince from Professor Slughorn about his gift from Lily, to having the strength to let Harry and Hermione dance to Nick Cave simply because it was fitting to the emotional complexity and sheer powerfulness of the situation.

To say the Potter films have grown up and changed with their actors would be understatement, except in the fact that the magic and wonder of the world has never left. The beautiful detail with which the filmmakers approach each film is clear, and when added to the fact that it is finely acted, with world class actors appearing at times as mere extras in the world of Harry Potter, and sharp storytelling coupled with a wondrous crew and – say what you will, a studio in Warner Bros. that have offered much to its creation that would be surely missed.

It is no surprise that the critics love the films, that they have received numerous awards worldwide from a wide variety of circles. It is a surprise to this writer, however, when I hear hate for the films coming from some of Potter’s biggest fans. Yes, it is unwarranted. The films are merely representations of the books, no one has ever pretended to, nor attempted, to truly capture the wonder and detail of every aspect of Jo Rowling’s perfect, fictional world. It is the fact that they can make an adaptation with beauty, grace, alive with Jo’s message and heart, and yet still a film – not a poor attempt of a remake of the book, is mind boggling to me.

No, not everything was perfect. There were things about each film that displeased me, I’m a moviegoer when I watch these films, and I have treated every one as such. But the mistakes, when the occur, can never deter from the fact that these films are alive with the messages and heart of J.K. Rowling, that the stories live on within this world.
I write this for the fans of the books, but it should be mentioned that through all the addition of moments made for the fans, and all the cutting of truly special moments from the books, neither readers of the series or mere moviegoers have ever felt “left out” of the series, never felt cheated or unwelcome to experience what is the most unifying of visions ever put to either book or film.

So thank you to all the Cast and Crew, David Heyman, David Barron and the scores of the most talented individuals around. I’m truly honored to be a moviegoer moreover to have witnessed some of the work and love going into these films, but above all I’m honored as a fan of the world of Harry Potter, and the care in which it has been translated onto the screen as its own, unique vision."